>> he's an accomplished independent leader and he fights for you. not a partisan agenda. vote hank for u.s. senate. >> i don't want to start anything but i'm fairly sure the "360" staff is made up of more dog people than just cat people. but there's no dog in this fight, so we have no choice. we got to vote for the cat. "early start" begins now. a chance to answer his foreign policy critics. shocking allegations of hazing and sexual abuse on a high school soccer team. investigators want to know if any adults played a role. monday night foulup. packer nation cheesed off, the blown call by replacement refs that cost their team the game.

>> this was outrageous. outrageous. >> they're going to take a lot of heat. >> they are already and they deserve to. >> on that note, good morning to you. welcome to "early start," i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. the big story this morning, the eyes of the world will be on president obama as he speaks to the united nations general assembly on its opening day. the president is expected to address the recent violence in the middle east, the u.s. consulate attack in libya and issue a new warning to iran about its nuclear program. >> but president obama is not meeting one-on-one with any of the world leaders. he had 13 bilateral meetings last year. cnn foreign affairs reporter is with us. what can we expect from the president's speech this morning? >> obviously the president is going to touch on some of the big issues out there. he's going to talk about syria and how to contain the crisis there and get president bashar

al assad out. he has to address the last couple of weeks, the consulate attack in libya but more importantly, the raging protests that have gone through the middle east, these anti-american protests. secretary clinton was speaking to the clinton global initiative yesterday and previewed what the president was going to say about the need to not have extremist hijack the arab spring. let's take a listen to what she said. >> people and leaders from across the region and the world and beyond have spoken in recent days against violence. foreign minister of tunisia came to washington last week and personally underscored his country's stand. and unity on this throughout the international community is crucial. because extreme ichts around the world are working hard to drive us apart. all of us need to stand together, to resist these forces and to support democratic

transitions under way in north africa and the middle east. >> so the president has to, as you say, thread the needle very carefully. he has to voice u.s. outrage in this video put at the same time say violence is not the answer and we need to think about how the arab spring should go forward. >> it was interesting, you showed a clip of the secretary of state there, hillary clinton. she has been meeting with all kinds of world leaders while president obama has been meeting with the ladies from "the view." >> hillary clinton could not have written this moment better herself. it looked foolish for the president to be talking about some of the issues on "the view" with the girls on the couch while secretary was meeting with all of these leaders about all of these important issues. yesterday she met with the leaders of libya, egypt, pakistan, afghanistan, and president obama is trashing mitt romney. let's take a listen. >> would it be disastrous for the country if mitt romney were

elected? >> well, you know, i think america is so strong and we've got so much going for us, that we can survive a lot. but the american people don't want to just survive. we want everybody to thrive. we want folks to have a shot at success. and so the question then just becomes whose policies are more lookly to lead us to where we want to go. >> obviously in this campaign season, this is where the candidates are going. they're going to the "the view," the jay leno show" or "the daily show." president obama got rid of bin laden, he end the the war in afghanistan and iraq. it just seemed weird that he had a world stage to show how important he was as a world statesman and here he is talk on "the view." >> are there any big accomplishments that come out of these meetings? he is getting a lot of criticism

over this but what's the outcome anyway? >> if you look at some of the issues out there and you saw what happened last week, raging protests in pakistan to not take a minute to sit down with the president of pakistan and show when you have the -- of the president speaking about some of these issues. secretary clinton certainly capable of dealing with some of these things. the u.s. has a lot of business with libya, the president of jicht, president morsi with afghanistan and pakistan. i think it might have been a little bit error in judgment or his aides might have advised him badly on this one. it does mac a difference. >> i want to bring in around full circle. there was something the secretary of state said yesterday that raised some eyebrows, sounded political when she was talking about taxes. >> that's right. secretary making a speech to the clinton global initiative and she was talking about the kind of wealthy around the world. one of her things is that people are not paying enough taxes. let's take a listen to how she

got a little dig at mitt romney. >> one of the issues that i have been preaching about around the world is collecting taxes in an equitable manner. especially from the elite in every country. you know, i'm out of american politics, but it is a fact that around the world, the elites of every country are making money. there are rich people everywhere. and yet they do not contribute to the growth of their own countries. >> who is she talking about there? i mean, but -- >> that is global context there. >> exactly. she doesn't do it that often but once fwh a while the kind of inner politician in her comes out. i travelled with her to morocco in february and she also talked about president obama being re-elected. when i interviewed her, i said,

hey, secretary of state not really supposed to go there. she's like it's in my dna. >> she's never completely out of politics. elise labbot, thank you so much for joining us. we will talk to danny danon. that's later in the show. and two staff sergeant will be court-martialed over video u.s. officials described as deplorable and disgusting. u.s. marines yur rating on dead taliban fighters and posing for pictures the corpses. two staff sergeants were charged in that incident for failing to supervise the junior troops. three other marines have already been punished in that case. an update to the sexual hazing story we told you about yesterday. four students at a high school in southern california briefly taken into custody on suspicion of assaulting four younger

soccer players. they were cited and released friday as the d.a.'s office investigated if any adults might have been involveded in this. the players were reportedly beaten with a stick, possibly aafta javelin and in one case, the stick was used to allegedly sodomize one of them. their coach is on leave now. >> awful. a giant panda cub dies. the initial test reveals that the newborn which was six days old and weighed just four ounces, the cub was not crushed by the mother. the mother still cradles a toy in her den, a sign she's not transition from her mothering role. next hour we'll talk to drdr. dr. suzan murray, the chief

veterinarian at the zoo. we'll find out today if the supreme court will take up the hot-button issue of same-sex marriage. they may or may not decide to hear arguments in two cases. one involves a challenge to laws denying gay couples the right to wed. all right. the big story now, former coach jon gruden called it tragic and come cal, ex-cowboys quarterback tweeted, these games are a joke. they're talking about the replacement refs in football and a stunning finish to last night's game between the seahawks and green bay packers. that pass from russell wilson to the end zone, a hail mary. it appears it was intercepted in the end zone by green bay safety m.d. jennings but the replacement refs rule it a touchdown, they say golden tate caught it. after reviewing, the play stands. they said, look, the seahawks is the guy in blue.

they said he had possession there. >> oh, my gosh. >> no, no. the packer guy had it on his chest. they say golden tate also had both hands on it. i do not know what replay they were looking at. twitter exploded last night. everyone on earth who saw this really thought this was an awful call. players, coaches, analysts, all thought it was bad. there was so much outrage on twitter, the nfl actually said we're not going to fine players for their opinions on the refs, unless it happens during the game or inside the stadium. they would be fining everyone. everyone thought this was a bad call. >> it started so well, right? they thought maybe they were over the hump. >> the replacement refs have had a rough weekend. >> what is the solution here. >> the holdup is money between the refs and the ownership. the ownership has locked up the refs. the football refs are part time. they are just part time.

they hold other jobs during the rest of the year. they want better pension and benefits and stuff like that. >> i think a lot of people are going to rally behind the refs on this one. >> this has gone on a long time. >> ten minutes past the hour. when 150 miles an hour is simply not fast enough. coming up, amtrak with the need for speed this week. and what it could one day mean for commuters. 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! ♪ playing a lone hand ♪ my life begins today ♪ ♪ fly by night away from here ♪

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right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber one. wanted to provide better employee benefits while balancing the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ] welcome back to "early start," everyone. 14 minutes after the hour. i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. nice to have you with us this morning. with the middle east nearing a boiling point, anti-american sentiment spreading, foreign policy is front and center in new york city today. president obama will be delivering two big speeches, one shortly after 10:00 at at the u.n. general assembly and the other two hours later when he followed mitt romney at the clinton global initiative meeting. he will have to respond to

repeated criticism like from his republican rival. >> he said the developments of the middle east are bumps in the road. these are not bumps in the road. these are human lives. these are developments we do not want to see. this is time for the president who will shape events in the middle east, not just be merciful or be at mercy to events in the middle east. >> cnn political reporter peter hamby is live in washington. the president is facing a fierce foreign policy attack from romney right now. is this part of the romney campaign reboot we've been hearing a lot about? >> it absolutely is, zoraida. the bumps in the road quote from "60 minutes" have handed the romney campaign an opportunity to talk about something other than his tax returns or that fund-raising video where he yet sized 47% of americans. this has taken over the economy has the main thrust of the romney campaign message. they're hitting obama hard on this. for example, listen to what paul

ryan, romney's running mate, had to say about obama's foreign policy yesterday while campaigning in ohio, zoraida. >> i think the president on too many occasions has deferred our foreign policy leadership to the u.n. security council, to the u.n., this means russia and china get to veto what we want to do. why do we want to give them that kind of clout over our national security interests? >> the goal here is to paint president obama as projecting weakness. ryan yesterday compared the situation in the middle east to tehran in 1979. you know, calling to mind the hostage crisis that helped undermine president jimmy carter's re-election bid. we've heard that many times before, zoraida. we'll see if that works this time. >> both candidates are speaking this morning. what do they hope to accomplish today. >> for the president, being president has -- is both an advantage and burden. the burden as elise mentioned

earlier, he has to soothe anxieties both here and overseas about the middle east. but politically, he gets to look presidential. mitt romney doesn't get to step in front of the u.n. general assembly. the president does. for romney, speaking at the clinton global initiative in new york today, bill clinton's foundation we expect him to be critical of president obama and talk specifically about foreign aid and in places particularly like egypt. >> thank you, peter hamby. >> thanks a lot. we'll get you up to date on the headlines. christine romans is here. president obama set to lay out his global priorities in a speech to the u.n. general assembly this morning. he's expected to have strong words concerning iran nuclear defiance. he's expected to re-affirm the u.s. commitment to israel. one thing he won't be doing is meeting separately with world leaders. last year he had 13 bilateral

meetings. a search is under way for a missing university of florida student christian agiar. police call this a case of foul play. they believe he may be injured. the second man, the person of interest in this case has been charged of depriving a person with medical car. blink and you might miss it. trains that normally run at a maximum of 130 to 150 miles an hour will be pushed to 165 miles per hour along the northeast corridor between maryland and massachusetts. amtrak is spending $450 million to upgrade track signals and overhead wires. that's fast. >> the why phi still won't work. >> the quiet car won't be quiet. >> that's an inside joke for acela travelers.

read. your local news, which is making national headlines. "the boston globe" in a huge drug lab scandal which is rocking massachusetts, an investigation found more than 1,100 people are state prison or county jails because of potentially intatted drug evidence. form she mixed drug samples to create positive results, even violated evidence handling procedures. she may have handled 60,000 samples in 34,000 criminal cases. crazy. duken has not been charged. >> why? >> but a criminal investigation is under way. >> that's terrible. all right. in new orleans, the times picayune, a federal court reversing a damage judgment saying the corps isn't liable for billions of dollars of hurricane katrina flood damage. the same three-judge panel reversing a decision it made

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welcome back. 23 minutes past the hour. we've been going in depth on the issues that matter to you in 2012. this morning, the high cost for college and how to pay for it. >> it is so expensive. christine romans has been speaking with students and looking at how both president obama and mitt romney have their plans to help the middle class pay for college work. here's her report. >> reporter: when jackie graduated from brown university this year, she put off going straight to medical school. instead, she took a research job at sloan kettering hospital. >> it is nice to have a paying job where i can pay back part of my student loans before going to med school and possibly adding on a lot more. >> reporter: and she had plenty of them, $100,000 worth. why? her family is middle class. her mother works in a school, her dad owns a bar. she says they're considered too wealthy to qualify for many grants but not wealthy enough to have saved the money for the

more than $50,000 a year to attend brown. >> you're in the middle class, you are normal suburban family but you don't make an outrageous amount of money, so you can't pay these outrageous prices for tuition. >> reporter: she's not alone. student loan debt hit $1 trillion last year. even tuition for public four-year colleges rose 68% over the last decade. enter the presidential campaign with college affordability a key issue for younger voters. >> i want to make college more affordable for every young person who has the initiative and drive to go. and make sure they're not burdened by thousands of dollars worth of debt. >> reporter: president obama has expanded pell grants and cut ott the banks as middle men for loans allowing studentses to borrow directly from the government. now obama proposes to slow tuition growth by increasing state grants. yet, he'd need congress to help fund that. >> i'm not going to promise all sorts of free stuff that i know you'll end up paying for. what i want to do is give you a

great job so you'll be able to pay it back yourself. >> reporter: mitt romney's plan to help students remove burdensome regulars and get the government out of the student loan business. romney says the flood of federal dollars just drives up tuition. moll mollie corbitt-broad says the heavy toll on state budgets is also a factor. >> when the state reduces its support, the only other place to turn for most colleges in the public sector is to increase tuition. >> reporter: either way, students like jackie feel left out in the cold. >> a lot of people who don't have students in college or kids my age think like, you're wealthy enough to go to college or you get financial aid from the government and it's that simple but it's not that simple. >> thanks so christine romans to are that report. college is so expensive. 26 minutes after the hour right now. this question, could there one day be another president obama? coming up, the first lady talks

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president obama under pressure. he takes the podium today at the united nations amid calls for a tougher stance on iran. >> we see flaming aircrafts, we see the enemy shooting at us. >> marines in the line of fire. a firsthand account of the night the taliban infiltrated a nato base in afghanistan. school punishment

controversy. a texas high school that wants to let male teachers spank female students. >> oooh. >> yeah. welcome back to "early start." >> i'm not going to chime on on that. >> welcome to "early start," i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. 30 minutes past the hour here. president obama set to address world leaders at the united nations general assembly. he'll use a speech to restate the position that iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad will speak tomorrow. the fbi will investigate a controversial shooting death. a wheelchair bound resident was acting aggressively. a double amputee advanced towards officers holding an object. it turned out to be a pen. one officer shot him in the head. he died on the scene.

the army exist arrested in a 2009 shooting massacre in'hood in texas is in a hospital this morning. he was admitted saturday for an undisclosed condition. the military says he is expected to be released within 48 hours. 13 people died in the shooting. 32 others wounded. a couple accused of trying to extort $5 million from stevie wonder will be on probation for the next three years after pleading no contest in los angeles. prosecutors say walker and his girlfriend allegedly threatened to sell false information about wonder and his family to the tabloids unless wonder paid up. facebook says private messages dating back to 2009 and earlier are not being posted on user's public time lines. its engineers checked out the situation after some folks actually complained. they say the old messages were public wall postings from friends. the kind that have always been viewable on a user's profile.

>> this story, this will get you talking. officials at a texas high school want to expand punishment rules to allow male teachers to spank female students. it already happened to 15-year-old taylor santos. the springtown high school sophomore chose a paddling to reduce a suspension for allegedly copying class work. her mom aof proed it but tells afill yat wfaa she didn't realize a male vice principal would be administering the punishment against school policy. >> it was like it had been burned and blistered it was so bad. >> it was bright red, like bad. i still have welts on me today. >> 19 states, including texas do allow corporal punishment in schools. all right. 33 minutes past the hour. our big story this morning, in just a few hours, president obama will address the united nations general assembly, the speech comes as israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has

increased pressure on the white house to clearly set a red line for iran's nuclear program. joining me now from tel aviv is deputy speaker of the parliament, the knesset. thank you for joining us this morning. we appreciate your time. president obama will not be meeting with prime minister netanyahu. >> thank you. good morning. >> good morning to you. or any other heads of state while he is in new york. are you disappointed about that? >> yes, i think we are disappointed because prime minister netanyahu wanted to meet president obama to discuss with him the crucial issue of iran. i think it's a threat to the israelis but also to the americans. and only yesterday, we heard ahmadinejad saying very clearly, i want to wipe out israel but then he's going after the u.s. as well. i think they should have met in new york or d.c.

hopefully there will be a meeting. >> i i want to discuss more about what ahmadinejad said about the timing of a military conflict between your nation and his. if we could listen to this and then i'd like you to respond. >> do you fear that war is imminent? do you fear there will be military conflict, perhaps even before the end of this year between your country and israel? >> translator: of course the zionists are very adventuresome, very much seeking to fabricate things. i think they see themselves at the end of the line. do i firmly believe they seek to create opportunities for themselves and their adventurous behaviors. >> what is your time line? >> well, i think we all agree, even the people in washington, d.c. that we're talking about few months, 2013 it will be the

end game. we have to decide whether we want to become nuclear or not. when we look at the speeches coming from iran, we cannot allow iran to become inconuclea. we hope it will be with the u.s., the u.n. or other organizations. if not, we have to do it ourselves. we have the capability. even though we do not believe it is israel against iran. iran anot -- is not against israel. >> ahmadinejad characterized the conflict between israel and iran only. and you view that situation very differently. >> well, in my new book i write about the actual ideology of ahmadinejad in iran. i say it very clearly, they need

a great one, the u.s. and a small one, israel. first we will go against the saturday people, meaning the jews who live in israel and then the sunday people, the christians. you must care about the middle east because you see what's happening on 9/11, eventually it comes to your shores, it comes to your embassies. it's come to your citizens. you cannot ignore such kind of hatred. we will have to face it first but it will also come to the american citizens. >> prime minister netanyahu has been critical of president obama on the issue of iran. in your point of view -- is it your point of view that president obama is unwilling or unable to stop iran from developing a nuclear weapon? >> in the middle east, there's a different mentality. to talk the talk, it is not enough. president obama came to cairo in

june 2009 and delivered a very nice speech but look what happened. today in iran, they are looking at the u.n., laughing at us. they were there talking but we are doing, we are building the bomb. i expect president obama to say very yearly today we will not allow iran to become nuclear, no matter what. it is a moral decision between good and bad. we do not expect to see american troops coming to the middle east tomorrow morning but to make a moral decision, support israel on this crucial moment, we expect that. >> danny danon, we thank you for your time this morning. >> a lot to say there. >> yes, indeed. coming up, bravery under fire. >> it's definitely like the movies, you know, how you see -- i mean, the fire was huge. >> u.s. marines give cnn a firsthand account of the fierce battle for a nato base in afghanistan. lisa rinna is wearing

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welcome back, everyone. new details about one of the boldest attacks in afghanistan in recent memory. $11 day ago, taliban fighters dressed in u.s. army uniforms, used a hole in a fence to penetrate a fence on camp bastion. you'll get the story only from pentagon correspondent barbara starr. >> we see flaming aircrafts, the enemy shooting at us. we're seeking cover and hearing small arms fire, ak-47s. pkms and then at some point soon thereafter see another rpg shot towards us and towards our building. >> reporter: for the first time on television, u.s. marines tell

cnn just how bad it got on the night of september 14th here at camp bastion in southern afghanistan when the taliban got inside the base. major grier trembliss and his lieutenant commander christopher rable raced to the scene when the first rounds hit. >> he performed heroically. he engaged the enemy. >> reporter: these taliban video which is nato believes show the insurgents getting ready weeks before the attack, may be a clue to how 15 heavily armed taliban fighters dressed in u.s. style military uniforms, infiltrated through the fence on the eastern edge of the airfield. when it all happened, the taliban broke into three groups. one group headed right for the flight line. six jets were destroyed, more than $200 million in damage.

some marines say it is the largest loss of aircraft since the vietnam war. >> we're hearing ammunition begin to cook off as well as their rounds they're firing at us. we're heading the sounds of fire as the gas is released from the aircraft. it was -- like i said, a surreal scene to behold. >> reporter: a staff sergeant led another team into the firefight. >> well, it's definitely like the movies, you know, how you see -- i mean, the fire was huge. so you can feel the heat hitting your face. you can smell it. you can hear all the snapping and cracking and all around the walls, all around you. >> reporter: for sergeant bradley atwell and christopher rable, it would be their final mission. both men died of their wounds, lieutenant colonel rabo remembered by his marines.

>> he took decisive action. he led his marines and he led them from the front. >> reporter: lieutenant colonel rabo went up against the taliban with the only weapon he had, his 9 millimeter pistol. a full investigation remains under way as to how the taliban got on to camp bastion in the first place. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> thanks to barbara. 44 minutes past the hour. fast moving and now deadly. coming up, the battle to save lives and homes amid a raging wildfire. but because of business people like you, things are beginning to get rolling. and regions is here to help. making it easier with the expertise and service to keep those wheels turning. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together.

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welcome back. 48 minutes past the hour. time to get you up to date. here's christine romans with this morning's top stories. president obama set to address world leaders. he'll use the speech to reaffirm u.s. support for israel and restate the position that iran must not be allowed to develop a

nuclear weapon. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad will speak tomorrow. he sparked outrage with his comments about what he called legitimate rain and pregnancy. today is the deadline for congressman todd aiken to drop out of the missouri senate race. akin has vowed to stay in that race despite the national gop pulling funding and for lots of calls to drop out. newt gingrich is calling on republicans to support akin as a way to take back the senate from democrats. michelle obama or president? don't bet on it. president obama and the first lady sat down with the ladies of "the view." the president was quick to shoot the idea of michelle obama running for president one day. >> she should run for office but she said she doesn't want to. >> yeah, i -- i -- look -- i mean, michelle would be terrific but temperamentally i don't

think -- >> wait, no, it's absolutely true. it takes a lot of patience to be the president of the united states. and i'm not that patient. >> the first lady went on to say her husband was the perfect temperament to be president. no emotional shifts, very steady. she says she's one of the only people who can really make him mad. >> i'd be in such big trouble. i'm not sure he can get away with that. >> he just did. >> she agreed with him. >> i do not know what happened in the limo on the way home. that's a private moment. the replacement refs, another controversy. russell wilson throws a hail mary pass. it appears to be intercepted by green bay safety m.d. jennings. the replacement officials call it a touchdown. seahawks win, 14-12. >> i want to go back to michelle obama. i think there are a lot of

people who think she would be a great president. >> the right answer when someone asks you if your wife would make a great president is yes. there's only one answer to that question. >> she was smooth with her answer about him about how he's patient. although some of his critics say he's been too patient with some in congress. >> the temperament. >> i wonder how that's going for them this morning. wildfires threatening people and property in the midwest. >> terrible. >> and far west. the body of an 82-year-old disabled man was discovered in a home in san diego county. the so-called shockey fire in southern california has scorched about 2,000 acres and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from their homes. another fire in oklahoma has been contained. about 100 firefighters in oklahoma battled that grass fire which threatened about a dozen homes and crossed a state highway for much of the afternoon. want to get a check on other weather around the country from rob marciano in atlanta. rob, any rain on the horizon

anywhere? >> right here near st. louis. points eastward across southern illinois. not quite getting down into oklahoma. there's a red flag warning for southeastern oak ob, just east of where that fire where you saw the video was yesterday. some these thunderstorms have punch to them, one heading towards evansville, indiana and a low in the intermountain west. but as far as the fires out west go, we have those in southern california. the one in san diego, only 40% contain. it will be toasty inland today. across the pacific northwest we ten to see large fires burn there to the extent where we have low visibility and bad air quality. especially east of the cascade. another cool shot of air is making its way down across the northern tier into the western great lakes. that will push rain into the northeast tomorrow. but until then, looks to be a nice day. another chilly start to the day in places like atlanta, 57 degrees. 54 currently in washington, d.c. and 56 in new york city.

you'll get up to the mid-70s in the big apple, 73. 76 expected in chicago. there's the heat building across dallas, 94 degrees. some spots it still feels like summer. back over to you. >> thanks, rob. it is 52 minutes past the hour. we have a packed hour ahead on "early start," including why your vacation may turn into a staycation if you're booked on american airlines. flyer frustration, sky high as american airlines cancels hundreds more flights. even senator marco rubio tweeting his frustration. is a sickout to blame? say it ain't so. enjoy your breakfast because a bacon shortage is looming. seriously. all that and more in the next hour of cnn. former secretary of state madeleine albright behind a drum set. look at her! the story behind that, coming up next. you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels.

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welcome back, everyone. 56 minutes after the hour. i'm john berman along with zoraida sambolin. we are talking about what is trending on the web morning. >> and tables have turned on the bul bullies. a town rallying around a high school girl who was voted homecoming princess as a prank. can you believe it? she was humiliated that she found out class mates voted her on to their homecoming court as a joke. she decided to stay hole. the boy who was going to be paired with her turned in his own crown so that he would not have to be seen with her. other classmates start eed rallying around her and then the

town and then nation. an anti-bullying facebook page was set up to support whitney. >> good for them. move over, ringo, make room for madeleine albright. she made a surprise performance at washington's kennedy center sunday night. this crowd -- i can't believe this. the crowd included aretha franklin, herby hancock. she can get down. >> can we hear? we don't have sound. >> i can fell you she plays well. >> how do you know? >> she's madeleine albright. of course she plays well. >> that is so cool. >> you're not going to beat that. that's the best picture pretty much ever. the new iphone 5 is reaching fever pitch, certainly in late night. >> you know who's at the u.n. is mahmoud ahmadinejad from iran. oh, creepy, weasely little guy, huh? the beady eyed little weasel

dropped by the u.n. for another hate-filled rant and then he went back in line for the new iphone. that's what he did. >> in china, a factory that makes iphones had to be shut down after 2,000 workers, 2,000 workers got into a brawl. the brawl was captured on 10,000 iphones. >> i wish the iphone people would design one that's black and has two pieces in it, plugs into the wall and you can pick one piece up and talk into it and dial -- i wish they would -- the new -- [ applause ] i tell you, whole time i had one of those old-fashioned plug-in phones, not once did i misplace it. not once could i not find my phone. >> "early start" continues right now.

president obama on the world stage. a high stakes speech tonight at the united nations and a chance to answer his foreign policy critics. mystery at the national zoo. what killed a giant panda cub just days after its birth? outrage in america last night. a call by replacement refs. it cost one team the game. okay. so how long do you predict before the lockout is over? >> i think it's soon. it's soon. good morning and welcome to "early start" everyone, i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. it's sick 50 6:00 a.m. in the east. we begin with the global spotlight on president obama. new this hour excerpts from the speech that he will deliver in front of the united nations general assembly just hours from now on its opening day. obama will address the deadly consulate attack in libya, saying quote, today we must affirm that our future will be determined by people like chris stevens, and not by his killers.

today, we must declare that this violence and intolerance has no place among our united nations. he is, of course, referring to the u.s. ambassador to libya, chris stevens, who was among the four americans killed in those attacks. >> for more on the speech we're joined by elise labott. so what else is he going to say this morning? >> well, certainly one of the things that the international community is looking at right now is a possible preemptive strike by israel against iran for its nuclear program. so, president clinton has to -- excuse me, president obama really has to take a good look at this, and try and urge prime minister netanyahu of israel not to do anything too quickly and wants to -- let's take a look at what he says in one of these excerpts. america wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy. we believe that there is still time and space to do so. but that the time is not unlimited. we respect the right of nations to access peaceful nuclear power, but one of the purposes

of the united nations is to see that we harness that power for peace, make no mistake, a nuclear-armed iran is not a challenge that can be contained. and that is why the united states will do what we must to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. and this is one of the things, right now, that the debate between the u.s. and israel over how far can iran go before the u.s. would support a military strike? and so, president obama really has to send this message to prime minister netanyahu that we have your back. we're not going to let this happen. >> the president obviously trying to set the tone from the high profile of that stage at the united nations. but over the last 24 hours, it hasn't been the president setting the tone on foreign policy. it's been the secretary of state. she's been meeting with world leaders while he's been on "the view." >> i think that's why i just said. if i was talking about bill or hillary, there are a lot of issues going on around the world. you saw what happened last week with these protests raging across the middle east.

afghanistan, pakistan, this attack on the consulate. and president obama is on "the view" trashing mitt romney. let's take a listen to what he said. >> would it be disastrous for the country if mitt romney were elected? >> well, you know, i think america is so strong, and we've got so much going for us, that we can survive a lot. but, the american people don't want to just survive. we want everybody to thrive. we want folks to have a shot at success. and, so the question that just becomes whose policies are more likely to lead us to where we want to go? >> and he's not just talking about, you know, mitt romney and making little jokes on the couch. he's talking about serious issues. but president obama has been campaigning on the fact that he's a foreign policy president, got rid of osama bin laden, got the united states out of the war in iraq, ending up the war in afghanistan. so it just seemed a little

ridiculous, frankly, that he's on the couch with the ladies of "the view" and hillary clinton is the one doing the heavy lifting. >> he's taken a lot of criticism. 24 hours is the amount of time he's going to spend at the u.n. g.a. let's talk about hillary clinton. she had a light moment talking about taxes. >> secretaries of state are not supposed to get involved in politics. you're not supposed to combine the campaign with foreign policy. but talking to the clinton global initiative about issues of development she said you can't separate taxes from the larger issues of world poverty and development. but it was a little dig at mitt romney. let's take a listen. >> one of the issues that i have been preaching about around the world is collecting taxes in an equitable manner. especially from the elite in every country. you know, i'm out of american politics, but, it is a fact that

around the world the elites of every country are making money. there are rich people everywhere. and yet they do not contribute to the growth of their own countries. >> getting this little dig in at mitt romney. you know the inner politician in clinton comes out a lot. when i was traveling with her, she spoke about president obama getting re-elected and when i asked her about that, you know, how come you're dabbling back into politics, is this a sign that you're -- have a future in office? and she said, look, it's in my dna. i try not to go there, but sometimes i just can't help myself. >> a little bit of stretching there to make her make a commitment i suspect, elise. thank you so much for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. >> five minutes after the hour. two staff sergeants will be court-martialed over a video u.s. officials described as deplorable, and disgusting. u.s. marines urinating on dead taliban fighters last year, and posing for pictures with the

corpses. the staff sergeants were charged in the incident and for failing to supervise junior troopers. three other marines have already been punished in the case. officials at washington's national zoo still trying to determine how a giant panda cub died over the weekend. the initial tests reveiled the 6-day-old cub, which weighed four ounces, was not crushed by its mother as some originally thought. in this video, the mother can be heard crying out in distress. this was a first indication that zoo officials had that something was wrong. they say the mother appears to be returning to her normal routine, but she still cradles a toy in her den as a sign that she's yet to transition from her mothering role. but she is eating well, they said and she's drinking well. she's headed to recovery herself. later this hour at 6:45 eastern we'll talk with dr dr. suzan murray, the chief veterinarian at the national zoo. she oversees the pandas. we might find out if the supreme court will take up the hot button issue of same-sex marriage. there are two pending appeals

cases in which the high court may or may not decide to hear arguments. one involves the legal rights of surviving same sex partners. the other a challenge to laws denying gay couples the right to wed. then this story. after week three of the nfl season, the cries are growing louder to get rid of the replacements and bring back real referees. please. especially after last night's controversial finish to monday night football between the seattle seahawks and green bay packers. final seconds, seahawks quarterback russell wilson heaved a hail mary pass and it looks like it's intercepted by green bay safety jennings. >> slo-mo, i need to see that in slo-mo. >> no, here it is again. >> the guy in yellow looks like he has the ball. but the replacement refs say no, it's a touchdown. they say seahawks receiver golden tate, number 81 there -- >> i could see how from that, if you're looking at that frame. but when you play it back. >> i mean, they look at this for ten minutes. they called the a touchdown

initially, looked at it for ten minutes and still called it a touchdown. didn't look like it to me the first time or the second time. in the end the seahawks won 14-12. twitter exploded overnight. the analysts of the game, they thought this was a, you know, just a shocking call. analysts said it just shows you can't have the replacements making these calls we have to reach some kind of labor agreement between the refs and ownership of the league. >> i wonder when that will happen. >> you would think soon. the commissioner, roger goodell, is now allegedly involved in these negotiations. hopefully there will be some resolution soon. because we can't have more of this. we just can't. >> you said that really this could affect the safety, also, of the players. >> that's right. the refs police the field to make sure that the hits are safe and the players are safe and the refs have been not doing the job. the players could be at risk. >> thanks for that analysis. you're very passionate about this. eight minutes past the hour, folks. shocking allegations out of a california high school. listen to this. teen soccer players allegedly hazed at the hands of teammates. at least one case involves sexual abuse. we have a full report coming up.

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...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. eleven minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start," i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. it is about 12 minutes past the hour. new details coming to light in the sexual hazing investigation at a southern california high school. four la puente high school students have been cited and released after four younger students, soccer players, accused the older students of vicious abuse. they say they were beaten with a stick, possibly a javelin, and at least in one case, the stick was allegedly used to sexually abuse one of them. in an interview with dr. drew, two of the accusers said six to ten students attacked them.

one of them said he saw an attacker wink at a teacher who is a soccer coach. the teacher has reportedly worked for the school for 12 years, raising the possibility that this may have gone on for some time. so far a detective says he's interviewed students going back as far as 2003. casey wian is following the story for us. he is in la puente this morning. what is the latest? >> well, good morning, john. los angeles county sheriff's department says it has interviewed 70 students so far in this investigation, and we can also report that one employee of la puente high school has been put on administrative leave. that employee has not been named by law enforcement. four students who were minors, as you mentioned, were briefly taken into custody and cited and released, pending this ongoing investigation. now, the sheriff department says that hazing at la puente high school in the soccer program has

gone on for years, and it may have, they stress, may have risen to the level of criminal conduct. know an attorney representing three of the boys says this hazing was a rite of passage for younger players who made the school's varsity team. >> they told me if i wanted the easy way or the hard way, and like at that moment my heart was like pounding, and like, i just like kind of like blacked out, and i said -- i told them i just remember telling them i want it the easy way, but when i was done i started to run but like they got me back. >> we do not and will not turn a blind eye to reports of harassment or hazing, therefore we took immediate action to contact law enforcement to initiate an investigation. >> now, an attorney representing

three of those alleged victims says that a coach witnessed and perhaps even participated in some of this hazing that may have risen to the level of sexual abuse. we attempted to contact the man who was listed as la puente high school's soccer coach. that contact was unsuccessful. we were not able to reach him. and at this point, the sheriff's department says, even though it's early in this investigation, they have no evidence that any member of the faculty or the coaching staff at the school was involved. john? >> all right, casey wian in la puente, thank you very much for that this morning. >> outrageous. absolutely outrageous. 15 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. president obama set to address world leaders at the u.n. general assembly this morning. and his speech will touch on some familiar themes. preventing a nuclear iran, and support for israel's security. the president won't be at the u.n. meeting for very long. he is skipping the customary

bilateral meetings to resume campaigning. a search is under way for missing university of florida student christian aguilar. he disappeared last week after fighting with another 18-year-old over a young woman. police call this a face of foul play and believe aguilar may be injured if he's still alive. the second man, a person of interest in the case, has been charged with depriving a person of medical care. a review finds more than 1100 people in massachusetts are in state prison or county jails because of potentially tainted drug evidence. former state chemist annie duken allegedly told law enforcement officials that the results increase the weights of drug samples and violated evidence handling preside yours. she has not been charged. but a criminal investigation is under way. in washington state, a parasite that may be caused by fly eggs has started infecting

honey bees there. this parasite causes bees to fly at night and fly around erratically until they die. they just look crazy. these zombie bees were first discovered in california in 2008. amtrak is taking it to the limit on its high-speed acela line. this week it's conducting tests of the trains to 165 miles per hour along the northeast corridor between maryland and massachusetts. they normally run from 135 to 150 miles an hour. amtrak is spending $450 million to upgrade tracks, signals, and all the overhead wires. so flight cancellations and delays are continuing to affect american airlines this week. the airline is blaming a spike in instances of pilots calling in sick, and flight crews requesting maintenance on their aircraft. >> american says pilots are unhappy with their recent labor contract, and last week the airline also told workers to expect about 4400 layoffs and additional job changes. here's christine romans to explain how changes the airlines

could affect your travel plans. this is today's road warriors. >> it is today going to change your travel plans, folks. according to flightstats.com over 1,000 american airlines flights have been canceled. more than any other airline and over 13,000 have been delayed in the past month. in response to this disruption, american is preemptively canceling between 1% and 2% of flights through october, and possibly beyond. they say more domestic flights are affected than international about this. so what does it mean for travelers? american says passengers whose flights are canceled will be notified as far in advance as possible, and they'll be automatically rebooked on to the next available flight. that's what's important. if they cancel your flight, they're going to automatically put you on the next one. to make alternate arrangements they recommend calling american's reservations department, and be patient, everyone. >> right. >> if you're booked on american you can keep up to date on your flight status using avps like flight track or the flight notification tool on the airline's website. you've got to go to aa.com. make sure they've got the right way to contact you. also consider allowing more time

for your journey. that's an understatement. during the disruption american is also waiving fees for all passengers who want to fly standby on an earlier aircraft. note that if your flight is canceled and you choose not to rebook you are entitled to a full refund of your fare. but we've even seen people like senator marco rubio was tweeting about this earlier this week, people on planes are saying wait, i'm told there's a maintenance issue, but you know, i don't think there's really a maintenance problem. well you're probably right. it's a dispute with the pilots. >> but it's like sunny blue skies everywhere around the country. >> how frustrating. 19 minutes after the hour right now. coming up, the fiscal cliff, and your tax bill. what happens if congress fails to take action before the deadline? hint, it's ugly. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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you're minding your business this morning. 98 days until the fiscal cliff hits. if congress doesn't act before the end of the year, government spending will be slashed. and your taxes are going up. >> and christine has been looking in depth at the taxes side of the fiscal cliff. >> because this infuriates me. because your taxes are going to go up. if the country goes over the fiscal cliff, your taxes are going to go up, and it will be the biggest tax increase that any family has ever had to absorb. let me show you how much. tax increases on the fiscal cliff are $380 billion. spending cuts are $100 billion. the tax bill for a median income

family making $55,000, two kids, is going to go up somewhere between $2,000 and $4,000. $2,000 and $4,000 for a family that makes $55,000. that is going to hurt and you're going to feel it and it's going to slow the economy. how will your taxes go up? a variety of ways. it's not just the expiration of the bush tax cuts. it's also the payroll tax. that was a temporary payroll tax holiday. that's going to be maybe $40 or $50 a paycheck. that's going away probably no matter what. the alternative minimum tax also. we told you about the bush tax cuts. those expire. there's also the child tax credit that will be cut in half, $500 from $1,000. income tax rates are going to change. the marriage penalty relieve goes away. capital gains rate changes. dividend rate changes. a lot of different ways that savers, investors and earners are going to get hit with taxes on the fiscal cliff. again the white house says $2200 is what the increased tax bill will be because of the fiscal cliff. when you add in the payroll tax

holiday and some other expiration of tax goodies that are in there the conservatives over at the heritage foundation say it's more like $4,000 tax bill will rise if congress does -- are they even talking about how to fix it, john? you know these people better than i do. >> they put it off until after the election. all this sounds really bad. what i really want to know is there going to be a bacon shortage? >> the one thing you need to foe about your honey today, do not panic. america do not panic about the reports that there's going to be a bacon shortage. >> i put it on facebook this morning. >> the u.s. is not running out of bacon. the usda yesterday reported record amounts of pork in warehouses in the u.s. now -- >> why did we have that? >> because of the drought this summer prices could go higher next year. you're going to pay more for your bacon. but please don't lose any sleep about this report. it's from the uk pig association, and they're encouraging supermarkets to pay farmers more.

that's something that's happening in europe and it's happening in london. we have lots of pork in america. you're just going to have to pay more for it. >> thank you so much. you just saved me so much anxiety. >> i know. >> well, actually that was more about her. >> i know. >> that's why that story is in there. thank you, christine. >> so, 25 minutes past the hour. facebook investigating whether private messages were exposed for everyone to see. why the company says don't worry. that's headed your way next. if you are leaving the house right now don't panic about not being able to watch us, we're on your desk top, mobile phone, go to cnn.com/tv. >> do it. get two times the points on travel, with chase sapphire preferred. 8% every 10 years.age 40, we can start losing muscle -- wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor.

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with chase sapphire preferred. the two candidates taking on the world. both president obama and mitt romney with big foreign policy addresses today. panda cub mystery. the death of a young cub under the microscope at the national zoo. school punishment controversy. listen to this. a texas high school that wants to let male teachers spank female students. >> wow. >> big wow. and big welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. about half past the hour right now. the top story this morning the game of politics at home and abroad. colliding here in new york this morning. at 10:10 a.m. eastern time the president will address the united nations general assembly, trying to convey to the world that he is fully engaged on

issues like the syrian uprising, the crisis in the middle east, and iran's nuclear ambitions. all this while his republican challenger tries to make the case that he is not engaged. mitt romney unleashed a barrage of criticism on the president for his words and deeds, when it comes to foreign policy. >> he said the developments in the middle east are bumps in the road. these are not bumps in the road, these are human lives, these are developments we do not want to see. this is time for a president who will shape events in the middle east, not just be merciful or be in mercy of events in the middle east. >> cnn political reporter peter hanby joins me live now from washington. mitt romney has a speech later today where foreign policy will no doubt come up. peter he was very aggressive in his words and tone and there was a coordinated response among republicans across the country. is this all part of the so-called romney reboot? >> yeah. i mean, look. the months and months of attacks

against president obama on the economy just haven't worked. poll after poll shows, you know, that romney how has -- excuse me, obama has an advantage on the economy. even obama has an advantage on taxes, last time democrats had an advantage on taxes was, you know, probably when the dodgers were still in brooklyn. you know, the romney campaign thinks that these images, you know, a lot of people overseas, undermine voters confidence in obama so they're going to keep pressing this. the vice presidential candidate, paul ryan, was in ohio yesterday. listen to what he had to say about obama's foreign policy. >> i think the president on too many occasions has deferred our foreign policy leadership to the u.n. security council, to the u.n. this means russia and china get to veto what we want to do. why do we want to give them that kind of clout over our national security interests? >> ryan also compared obama to jimmy carter saying these images of violence overseas looks like tehran in 1979, that hostage crisis that undercut carter's re-election bid. you know, this is really fascinating, john. this is the main thrust of the

romney campaign right now, is foreign policy. not the economy. >> it is interesting, carter, by the way, jimmy carter a four-letter word among republicans. but while the president is facing this criticism, he has decided not to meet with foreign leaders and not to have the bilateral meetings that are somewhat traditional at the u.n. general assembly meetings. but he's gone on "the view." we talked a lot this morning about the criticism he's facing for that. i wonder if you can explain, perhaps, the advantages of going on a show like "the view." >> last time he went on "the view" i believe was may. he got more than 4 million viewers. and these viewers are predominantly women. and women are turning into a decisive vote in this election. obama continues to have an advantage among women nationally in swing state polls. this is what's keeping him afloat. and he took the opportunity in a taping yesterday that's going to air today to really hit romney on tax policy. this is what he had to say, john. >> i'll give you a very clear

example. yesterday, governor romney on "60 minutes" said, was asked, does he think it's fair that he pays a lower tax rate than somebody who is making $50,000 a year. and he said yes, i think it's fair, and i also think that's the way you get economic growth. i think, barbara, that you grow an economy from the middle out, not from the top down. >> so, peter, obviously one of the key states in this election is ohio. no republican has won the presidency without also winning ohio. you've been working your sources on the phones, and in person. republican sources talking about what kind of problems mitt romney faces there right now. >> yeah. one thing that's interesting about ohio is romney's losing there, according to polls, as he is in most swing states. but he's losing by a little bit more in ohio. so i'm trying to figure out why this is. there's a number of reasons. a lot of republicans there campaign about, you know, romney bringing in staff from out of state that don't necessarily know what they're doing with ohio. but the main complaint i've

heard in conversations with dozens of republicans in ohio is romney doesn't really have a coherent message. they don't know what he stands for. and also, this is a state with an unemployment rate that's a point lower than nationally. you have a republican governor, john kasich, who talks all over the state, day after day, about how the economy there is really growing and booming. and romney doesn't necessarily, you know, say the same thing. it's kind of mixed messages. and he also hasn't come up with a really strong, coherent response, to the auto bailout. he says let detroit go bankrupt. there's a supply chain, you know, a lot of manufacturers in ohio. the obama campaign talks about this day after day after day after day and romney campaign doesn't really have much of an answer for it. romney's going to ohio after his new york visit to join up with paul ryan for a bus tour. they know how important it is and they definitely have some work to do, john. >> all right. thank you, peter hamby in washington. the romney ohio bus tour begins today. thanks very much. 35 minutes past the hour. the fbi will investigate the controversial shooting death of a disabled man. this was by police in houston.

on saturday, officers were called to a group home for mentally ill people. responding to reports that a wheelchair-bound resident was acting aggressively. police say the double amputee advanced towards officers holding an object that turned out to be a pen. one officer shot him in the head. he died at the scene. a california judge says singer chris brown has tested positive for marijuana, and that could be big because brown is serving five years' probation for that infamous 2009 assault on his then-girlfriend rihanna. rihanna on monday said i'm praying for you and wishing you the best today. a probation violation hearing has been set for november 1st. talk about the high seas. swimmers in florida helped retrieve large packages of marijuana that were on board an apparent drug smuggling boat that capsized near jacksonville. this was earlier this month. the boat resurfaced off the

coast of flagler county. the department of fish and wildlife says nearly 150 pounds of pot were recovered. facebook says private messages dating back to 2009 and earlier are not being posted on users' public time lines. they checked out the situation after some users registered their complaint. facebook says the messages in question were actually public wall postings from friends. the kind that have always been viewable on user profiles. a 15-year-old female high school student got a little more than she bargained for when she agreed to be spanked by a teacher. to get a suspension reduced. taylor santos goes to springtown high school near fort worth, texas, and she chose a paddling to get her two-day suspension cut in half for allegedly copying classwork. her mom approved the corporal punishment but tells affiliate wfaa she didn't realize a male vice principal would be administering hit. which is against school policy. >> it looked almost as if it had been burned and blistered, it

was so bad. >> and it was bright red, like bad. i still have welts on me today. >> wow. since taylor's paddling springtown high school officials have been talking about expanding the corporal punishment rules to allow male teachers to spank female students. 19 states, including texas, allow corporal punishment in schools. >> 37 minutes after the hour right now. football fans saying this morning, enough is enough. coming up, did you see this? you may not want to. outrage over the call made last night by the replacement refs on monday night football. crazy.

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welcome back to "early start," everyone. it is 41 minutes after the hour. i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. wildfires are posing dangers in two parts of the country this morning. the body of an 82-year-old man was discovered in a home. this was in san diego county. the so-called shockey fire in southern california has scorched about 2,000 acres. it's forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from their homes, as well. in another fire in oklahoma has now been contained. about 100 firefighters battled the grass fire that threatened about a dozen homes and closed a state highway for much of the afternoon. so let's talk to meteorologist rob marciano at the cnn center in atlanta. we're hoping there's some rain headed toward that area. >> not a whole lot. but we'll look for the heat to maybe abate a little bit across southern california. the northwest has seen incredibly hot and dry weather the past couple months, they've got 20 large fires burning in

this area. so much so that you've got visibility and air quality issues there, especially east of the cascades. so cal, no rain expected. snow across parts of the inner mountain west. and some thunderstorms, these were kind of rough, that moved just north of seattle, rapidly moving off toward the east and they could become severe as they continue toward the ohio and tennessee valley. cool front, another one, about to drop down from canada. that will reinforce cool air that's already in place. before that happens, we'll get a look at rain comes across the great lakes and tomorrow into the northeast. until then, looks to be another nice day after a chilly start in some spots. temps in the 40s and 50s, rebounding into the 60s and 70s. lower 80s, atlanta. 94 degrees. that's where the fire threat is today in eastern oklahoma, where it still feels like summer. guys, back up to you. >> thanks, rob. back here at home, the stakes are high for president obama at home and abroad, in a speech before the united nations general assembly, this morning,

he is expected to reaffirm support for israel's security, and the u.s. commitment to keep iran from developing a nuclear weapon. it's also an opportunity for the president to compare his world view to mitt romney's. four students in la puente high school in southern california cited and released. they are accused of assault in a sexual hazing case. the d.a.'s office now investigating and many adults might have been involved, as well. the 34r5iers were reportedly beaten with a stick, possibly a javelin. their coach is now on leave. he sparked outrage with his comments about what he called legitimate rape and pregnancy, not to mention strange biology. and today is the deadline for congressman todd akin to drop out of the missouri senate race. akin has vowed to stay in the race, despite the national gop pulling funding and calls for him to drop out. newt gingrich is calling on republicans to actually support akin now, as a way to take back the senate from democrats. and we could find out as early as today if the supreme court will take up the hot button issue of same-sex marriage. there are two pending appeals

cases in which the high court may or may not decide to hear the arguments. one involves the real rights of surviving same-sex partners. the other a challenge to laws denying gay couples the right to wed. the nfl's replacement referees taking an awful beating after last night's controversial finish. last play of the game, seahawks trailing by five, wilson hurls a hail mary pass to the end zone. it appears it was intercepted by green bay safety jennings as the clock expired. but, the replacement officials ruled this a touchdown. they say tate somehow, the man in blue, they say, caught it. i don't see it. >> what? they're crazy. >> exactly. still the seahawks won, 14-12. the crowd, the cries from everywhere, including soledad o'brien, coaches, players and fans, bring back the real refs! right? >> wow. >> that was ridiculous. >> how does that happen? if you're looking at the tape it's a collective group of people, how does that happen? >> the issue was who had

possession of the ball. the refs thought he had possession of the ball. >> in other words a bad call. what's happening this morning on "starting point" at the top of the hour. president obama is preparing to address the united nations today. he's going to tackle foreign policy, deliver a warning to iran about their nuclear program. not planning, though, to meet with foreign leaders publicly. so the big question there, is he making a big mistake ahead of the election. we're going to talk this morning to senator john barrasso and former congressman robert wexler about what they think the president needs to say today. and america fell in love with her on "laverne and shirley." i sit down with actress and director penny marshall. she's got a new memoir out called "my mother was nuts." and he is the king of the gridiron, victor cruz will join us. he's going to talk about the call and the replacement refs. how he thinks it's affecting the game. and also talk about all the other things he's doing in his life. he's got a very cute commercial for campbell's.

you know you've made it big when campbell's puts your mom on the commercial with you. >> very interested to hear what he has to say about the refs. >> it will be very interesting. >> this morning the guys downstairs were beyond themselves knowing that he's going to walk into the building. they're staying in order to meet him. >> i almost took my son out of school. at the last minute i go, it would be terrible parenting. >> all right. with that parenting note here, coming up on "early start," a search for the truth. amid sadness. a mysterious death of the young panda cub. the chief veterinarian of the smithsonian national zoo will join us to talk about what happened.in c rge of their own f. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪

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veterinarians at the

smithsonian national zoo still trying to figure out what killed the 6-day-old baby panda cub. initial tests have ruled out the theory that the newborn was crushed by its mother and some new video this morning of the mother showing us just when zoo keepers first realized something was wrong. you can hear the mother panda cry out in distress. this was early sunday morning. take a listen. the mother has taken to cradling a toy in place of her missing newborn while she sleeps. doctor suzan murray is the chief veterinarian at the smithsonian national zoo. she has been overseeing the panda. that reaction from the mother, it feels so human. can you tell us how she's doing this morning? >> may shan is doing well this morning. she's been sleeping better. she's returned to eating and she's interacting a lot more with keeper staff as well as veterinary staff. >> it feels so sad to see her

with that toy. >> right. >> you've received the initial results on the tests of what happened to the baby cub. what can you tell us. >> well, it's very frustrating to try and figure out exactly what happened. we do first an initial exam and then, when we get it back full exam. we'll examine tissue under the microscope. our pathology team was able to determine that our cub's body was inact, meaning she hadn't been crushed. but there was some fluid in the abdomen. most likely shouldn't be there, at least not in that quantity. >> fluid in the abdomen right now is the leading possibility for what may have caused the death? >> yeah, it's a little bit hard to conjecture too much but that certainly is an abnormality. or at least the amount of fluid. so we're looking into the cause of that. that's what we're looking at. >> these panda cubs are so small when they're born. we always hear them compared to the size of a stick of butter. >> right. >> yet they're left in with the mother panda. is that a risk -- is there any thought to the idea they should be taken away right away so you

maybe can monitor them better right after they're born? >> no, i think one of the most important things in nature is very often mom knows best. and certainly that's true with giant pandas. one of the things that we try and do is make sure that we don't intervene unless there's a sign of a problem. and we give mom and baby time to be together. it was certainly the approach we chose, and that worked out wonderful think. >> mae xian has had a healthy cub in the past. but the previous pair living in the zoo had five births that ultimately related in death. why is it so hard for these panda babies to grow up, to make it? >> well, as you said, when they're first born they're so small, they're not fully covered, not hawley haired, and they're just ounces so they don't have the best immune system right off the bat. it's got a lot against them. at the same time, we were really hopeful. she was such a great mom to tai-shan. we really let our hearts go. we really believed that this little cub was going to make it.

>> so she's not young, 14 years old. what are the plans for her going forward? more attempts? >> well, we don't know just yet. our main concern right now is finding out the cause of death of the cub, and then just making sure that she's doing well. and as you asked earlier, she's beginning to get back to normal. but i do think it might take a little while. >> dr. suzan murray, thank you so much for joining us this morning. the chief veterinarian at the smithsonian national zoo. we were all so sad when we heard the panda cub didn't make it. so thank you for joining us. >> thank you so much. >> zoraida? >> wow. that is very sad. you know i had never seen the pictures when it was such a tiny baby either. anyway, today's best advice from oscar winner forest whitaker coming up. seems they haven't been moving much lately. but things are starting to turn around because of business people like you. and regions is here to help. with the experience and service to keep things rolling. from business loans to cash management,

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57 minutes past the hour. we wrap it up as always with best advice. >> all right this is from oscar winning actor forest whitaker. and he quotes his mother. >> something my mom told me when i was a kid. it was time she was trying to convince me to go to church and she said you know, you don't have to go with me to church, you don't have to go to the same or believe the same things that i do, but you have to believe in something. you must believe in something. >> i believe in him. i believe in his voice and his

calmness. and he's such a great actor. you know, he's a very cool zen kind of guy. >> my mom said you have to go to church. >> my mom said -- >> get up and you're going. >> you have to believe what i believe. but i'm the boss. >> no choices here. that is all for "early start" this morning. i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. good morning, welcome everybody. our "starting point" this morning, taking the world stage. president obama speaks before world leaders at the u.n. general assembly today. he won't be meeting with foreign dignitaries one-on-one. instead he's going to be sitting on the couch of "the view." is he setting the wrong tone for the election? hazing accusations of high school soccer teens shaking the community to its core. boys, some as young as 14, say her teammates sexually abused them, and it might have been going on for years. and the nfl replacement refs do it again. but their fumble was more than just a nuisance this time. a very confusing end to the